BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Ty Anderson won UTSA's eighth conference high jump title in program history on Saturday and the Roadrunners sit in third place through six scored events after the opening day of this weekend's Conference USA Indoor Championships, which is being contested at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Anderson cleared 6-10 ¼ (2.09m) on his third and final attempt of the competition to edge four jumpers who finished at 6-8 ¼ (2.04m) and it marked the first indoor league crown of his decorated career. It marked the program's 76th all-time conference championship and 52 of those have come under the direction of 15th-year head coach Aaron Fox. Davante Edwards added a point with his seventh-place performance (6-6 ¼/1.99m), giving the Roadrunners a combined 11 in the first scored event of the meet.
"I'm just glad I was able to come out here and compete well after being injured most of the season," Anderson said. "I felt like I was getting back to where I needed to be and I gained more and more confidence with every clearance. Now, I just hope we can close it out as a team tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Adrian Riley, who sits in third place through the first four events of the heptathlon with 3,148 points (just two points out of second), picked up five points with his fourth-place effort in the long jump. The junior from Kingston, Jamaica, broke the sand in 23-8 ¾ (7.23m), while Western Kentucky's Ventavius Sears successfully defended his league crown with his leap of 25-2 ½ (7.68m).
UTSA also received five points in the final event of the opening day, the distance medley relay. Luca Chatham, Andrew Pirog, Edgar Garcia and Monty Bertschy passed the baton in a season-best 10:08.53, which was good for fourth place. UTEP edged Middle Tennessee by just over a half second for the title in 10:03.04.
Victor Perez registered a fifth-place effort in the weight throw with his toss of 64-0 ½ (19.52m), which added four points to the Roadrunners' team total. Charlotte's Stevan Veselinovic captured the gold medal for the second consecutive year with his measurement of 66-6 ½ (20.28m).
UTSA's other scorer of the day was Chad Gates, who finished sixth in the pole vault with his clearance of 15-1 ¾ (4.62m). Charlotte's Keon Howe won the event with his vault of 17-1 ½ (5.22m).
Six Roadrunners advanced to Sunday's running finals, including double-qualifier Desmond Jefferson (60m/200m), who peeled off the third-fastest 60m performance in school annals at 6.78. Meanwhile, Vasha Sheriff clocked the top 400m time of the night while moving up to third on the school's all-time performers chart at 47.56, while Patrick Prince topped the 60m hurdles field with his clocking of 8.00.
Charlotte leads the field after six scored events with 38 points. Middle Tennessee, which saw 10 entries advance to the running finals — including five in the mile — sits in second with 31 and UTSA is third with 28. Two-time defending champion Western Kentucky stands sixth with 21 points, but the Hilltoppers saw a meet-high 12 entries advance to the running finals, including four in the 200m.
"We had a good start today," Fox said. "I was pleased that the team competed hard and we have put ourselves in a good position. We now have to come out and perform tomorrow."
The two-day meet will conclude on Sunday.
